The Butcher Case
by BiancaFef
Summary: This is actually a prequel to a long-fic I'm writing... If you're interested in the story, let me know! I hate summaries... all the warnings are at the beginning of the chapters... enjoy it!
1. Chapter 1

_Hi everyone! I was really in the mood for writing in English these days, I decided that sooner or later I'll have to learn how to do it properly... anyway, I had to write a prequel for a ling-fic I'm writing, and... well, it was a good chance for me to practice! So, that's it. It probably doesn't make much sense if read alone, because it would be intended to be the prequel for another story... the ending is not a real 'ending'... it's more of a beginning!_

_Anyway, this could be read also as a story itself, so I decided to try publishing it._

_If anyone read it and would like to read also the story, let me know... I'd really like to publish it, but I should translate it first and that would be a HARD job, because it's long! _

_One last thing, there's an OC in this. I have to apologize about that. Most people don't like reading about OCs and neither do I. But this time... I couldn't keep myself from writing it! Anyway, she's not totally a silly goose like many OCs out there..._

_she's a bit more childish here, in the beginning, but then, as the story goes on, she gets better. Poor girl, actually not very pleasant things happen to her as the story goes on... see, she is already punished by the storyline. Please, give this poor unfortunate a chance!_

_AH, just to be precise, since it doesn't follow the canon timeline: the characters' years of birth have been changed- to read the prequel, just if you were curious about it, it's enough to know that L's birth in my story is set on 31 October 1983. The OC's birth is on 14 September 1988. _

_So... of course, I don't own Death Note or its chacacters- if I did, Mello would be now sitting next to me, taking his leather pants off and smirking mischievously-_

_Enjoy the story!_

**CHAPTER 1: First meeting**

**June 28, 2008 **

She sat down for a short break, holding her hot coffee. This had been a long day. Another victim from the Butcher.

That's how the press called him: the Butcher. Now that she had seen his work, she understood why they had chosen that alias.

Taking a deep breath she watched to the people around her. Young or old, men or women, rich or poor, they were all equals to her. All equals in front of Death.

Someone was calling her name from the Intensive Care ward. She headed for the sliding doors that separated the world as everybody knows it from _her_ world, one of pain, sorrow, and death.

.

- What's up?

She asked to one of the nurses.

- That detective from the FBI arrived. Oh, no... he said... it was FBI or Interpol, I can't remember...

- It doesn't matter... but where is he?

The woman shrugged her shoulders as to say 'I've no idea'.

She swallowed the last sip of her coffee and headed for Katy's room.

.

Katy was 17 years old. She was coming back home from her dance class, that Friday, when the Butcher kidnapped her.

.

She strartled when she saw a dark haired man in the teenage's room. He was bent on the girl's unconscious body.

She jumped into the room and stalked towards the man.

- Who are you? It isn't allowed to stay here! This girl's condition is extremely severe...

- I'm L. I'm allowed to stay here. And... I know her health conditions.

She stared at him for a long moment.

- A-are you that American detective?

He looked younger than she had expected, though the deep bags under his eyes.

- I'm British actually, and I'm working with the Interpol... but yes, that's me.

- Uh... sorry, the nurse told me y-

- It's fine.

- Well, so... nice to meet you, mister...?

- L. Just L. Nice to meet you, too. Are you Katy's physician?

- Uhm, no, actually I'm not. I'm... I'm his practici-

- I'll have to talk to her doctor then. I must know if there's a way of waking her up.

- Well... there is no way of waking her up, I can tell you that. Doctor Foster will be there soon, however, he'll just confirm you what I've just said.

She didn't like him at first sight, he was kinda... arrogant.

- But that nurse there, the red-headed one, told me she was in a drug-induced coma.

- Well, she is, but that doesn't mean we can wake her up that easily! Trying to wake her up would probably kill her.

- Ah... I see.

He looked at the poor girl for a moment.

Her helpless body was lying on the bed and she looked like she was sleeping, apart from being attached to a life support machine and having three IV drips on her forearm.

.

- He kidnapped another one.

He stated, with that poker face of his. But there was a bitterness in his voice.

- I'm... I'm sorry.

A second of silence.

- Is she his first victim you see?

- No... no, she's the second. Also Annie Labinsky was taken here... I-I saw her too.

- Oh. She wasn't in a good state.

- No... not at all. At least...

She remembered the tiny dark haired fifteen-year-old that had died the previous week.

- At least she didn't suffer for long. But Katy... you know. Even if she'll wake up one day... she has too severe cerebral damages...

- How severe?

- I'm not a neurologist, but... we believe that she's not gonna speak anymore. Nor even realize that she's alive, even tough she woke up one day.

The detective looked thoughtful.

- What's the degree of certainty about that?

- ...exuse me?

- I mean, 80 percent? 90 percent? 95 percent sure that she's not even going to realize that she's alive, if she woke up? And how likely is that she will wake up?

- I... I don't know...

He was aking too many question at the same time.

- I... I can't know it! Medicine is not about certentainties... we can only tell it's unlikely that she'll wake up. Maybe doctor Foster will tell you a percentage, but...

- Well, I'll talk to doctor Foster then.

- I meant, maybe he'll tell you, but...

She was getting annoyed.

- But it would be just... just to show off...

She blushed, realizing that she had just sniped at her head physician.

'L' then turned to face her. He looked more interested in her now.

- What do you mean?

- I mean... he always... he... he talks big about the 30 percent or 40 percent of chance for something to happen, but...

- But?

- It's just...

She lowered her voice, staring at her own feet while she was speaking.

- It's just... random numbers... to show he knows better than the others... you know.

- I see.

He paused for a second.

- And you? What do you think about Katy's chances?

She took a deep breath.

- She... she's off-chance.

.

In that moment the door slammed open and a well-built man on his late forties came in, introducing himself as doctor Foster, head of the neurologic Intensive Care unit.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2: He was Belgian**

That evening, she finished her day shift at 8 o'clock. It was too late to go home and cook dinner, so she just stopped in a take-away Chinese restaurant to grab some food.

She was waiting at the cash desk, when she saw a familiar figure sitted oddly at a table near by.

He hadn't noticed her.

She paid for her dinner, but didn't move. She couldn't take her eyes off the detective.

.

There was no reason for her to join him.

No reason at all, she thought while heading for the young detective with her vegeterian rice and soy sauce.

He finally saw her.

- H-hi,

She greeted him.

- Do you remember me? I'm doctor Foster's pr-

- Yeah, of course I do. We met just a few hours ago.

- Oh. Yeah, I...

- Please, have a sit.

'Shit, I'm looking like a weirdo now' She told herself, but anyway she sitted in front of the boy.

- Am I... am I bothering you? I've just come out of the hospital and I was buying dinner, and... then I saw you, so...

- It's... It's fine.

She smiled slightly feeling a bit awkward. She was a perfect stranger to him, why the hell did she join him?

- You haven't introduced yourself yet.

He stated.

- Oh! Sorry, that was... that was inpolite of me, I do beg your pardon. I'm...

She paused, her mind working feverishy.

- I'm... I'm Fanny.

- Fanny? What a nice name. There aren't many Fannies out there, are they?

- Well, actually,

She blushed.

- It's not... my real name. I mean, it's my nickname. Most people don't know my real name, you know? It's... it's not that I'm trying to hide it, I just... don't like it. Everybody has always called me Fanny so... I'm Fanny. Nice to meet you.

She shook his hand, he was probably trying hard not to laugh.

Her friends kept telling her to stop introducing herself like a seven years old dork, and start telling her _real_ name.

Not that she had many friends, working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. But who cares, she was in love with her job.

- Actually, I'm glad to see you.

He said, and she stared puzzled at him.

- Uh, and... mmh... why are you glad to see me?

- There's something I'd like to discuss with you. About the Butcher case.

About the case? Why the hell did he want to discuss the case with her?

- Oh... I'm sorry, but... I don't think I could be very helpful! I know nothing about crimes and investigations, apart from some crime novels I read when I was young...

- Really? Which ones?

- Uhm... well, Agatha Christie, mostly...

- I used to like them. My challenge was finding the murderer before the French moustached did.

- Well...I rarely succeded in it, but...

- You know, Christie wasn't even her real last name, in the end.

- Well, in those years women used to keep their first husband's last name, even if they divorced and remarried, so...

- Yes, you're right, but... she legally asked for changin her last name in 'Mallowan' in 1931.

- Oh. Well, I... didn't know that.

He didn't show any expression. Little know-it-all brat.

.

- Any way, that's not what I wanted to talk you about.

- And... what do you wanted to talk me about, exactly?

- I wanted your professional opinion for a decision I have to take.

- O-ok, but... perhaps you can find more skilled professionals than me, I'm just a student after all, I...

- Yes, yes, I know that. I wouldn't have come to you under normal circumstances. I mean, not that you're not very skilled, for your age, but...

- My age? What's wrong with my age?

- Nothing, but... you're young.

- And what about you, then?

- I'm 24.

- And so? I'm... 22. It's not a matter of age.

- Chill out girl, I'm not questioning your qualification. But, as you said, you're not the most authoritative neurologist in London... not yet, at least.

He added, clearly to soothe her.

- Yes I'm... I'm sorry, I wasn't surely pretending that. Of course I'm not. But then... why do you need my opinion?

- Because you worked on Katy's case, and I found out that there are only two persons in that hospital that really knows Katy's health conditions: you, and doctor Foster.

- Why don't you ask him, then? He's her physician in charge...

He raised an eyebrow.

- Oh... I see. But... if it's for what I told you before... I mean, yeah, he brags a bit about he being the best professional in London, but, I mean, he _is_ rather good, actually...

- It's not for what you told me. It's for what anybody told me. And... I don't trust that man.

She nodded.

- I asked other doctors in the hospital but they seem... scared of that doctor Foster of yours.

She smiled slightly.

- Yeah, he... he's a bit stubborn when he wants to.

- And no one looks like willing to give me his own personal opinion about Katy. Not if this opinion is in contrast with _the Jerk_'s one.

She held back a laugh. He had just called Dr. Foster 'the Jerk'!

- How did you know about that?

- I've got my snitches...

He smiled.

Now she liked him more. She smiled too and licked her dry lower lip.

- However, what I want from you is that you tell me your personal opinion about her health condition, and, if you can, also the other physicians' real opinions... the ones they don't want to tell me officially.

- And you want me to report on them... unofficially, right?

- Right.

- May I ask you... why?

- I'll show you.

And he pulled out a file from his rucksack, then handed it to Fanny.

- What...?

She leafed through a few pictures of a cute girl, looking about 12, 13 years old.

- Her name's Sthepanie. She's 14.

- Oh. She looks younger.

- Yes... he's looking for younger and younger ones.

- _He_...?

- Our dear friend, the Butchy.

- Oh, God. Did he he kidnap this girl?

- 8 hours ago to be more precise.

- Oh, I'm... that's... horrible, she's... she's so young...

- He won't probably kill her for the next 40 hours. So that means that we've got 40 hours to catch him. Or Sthepanie's gone.

- And what do you need Katy for, if...

And then she realized.

- Oh, I see... you need Katy to wake up to question her. She spent four days with him... she might know something.

- Yes.

- But... if we try to wake her up from the coma... we're not even sure that she'll be able to answer any question... and... we're risking her life.

- That's the matter. And we have less than 40 hours to reach a decision.

She remained thoughtful for a bit.

- But it's not up to us to take this decision... Katy's family is responsible for her now...

- Yeah, her grand parents. Nice couple. Simple people. They are probably going to follow any suggestion we're giving them, so... what we decide to suggest them, it's going to be decisive.

- Oh... I see.

She glanced one last time at Stephanie smiling back at her from the picture.

.

Soy sauce tasted bitterer that evening. They finished their meal and then it was time to come back home for both of them.

- Well... gimme some time to think about it. I'll talk to the staff. I'm... I'm telling you our opinion about Katy by tomorrow.

- I'll be at the hospital after lunch, we've got no time. If we do this, we do this tomorrow, or it's gonna be too late.

- Yes. Ok, then... see you tomorrow, I'll be at the canteen at 12.30.

She didn't move.

- It's... it's an hard decision you're asking us to take. I'm... not even sure it's up to us to decide this. How can we...

Fanny took a deep breath.

- How can we decide to sacrifice an innocent? Even if it's in order to catch the Butcher?

- It's not in order to catch the Butcher. It's in order to save his next victims. Anyway you're right, I don't know if it's up to us take this decision, but... we're just trying our best to do the right thing.

- I know... we... try our best every day, but... it's rarely enough.

She took her bag and was about to go.

- I understand that this is a heavy burden for you to take, but you're a physician, you'll have to deal with those kind of tough decisions every day, I guess.

He said.

- Yeah, actually I have to.

- You... look older than your age.

- Oh. Is that... a compliment?

- Kind of.

- Ok, so... thank you... and good night, L.

- Good night Fanny.

- See you tomorrow.

- See you.

.

She was already walking towards the door when he called her.

- Ah, and... Fanny?

She turned to face him.

- Yes?

- You're 19.

She blushed.

- A-I'm...

- Nineteen. It's fine with me.

She was so embarassed!

She didn't want to lie, it was just that people usually condidered her a bit more then a child when they knew her age...

- Well. Uhm. I... I have to go now...

- Good bye again.

She turned herself feeling so silly for having lied like a little kid. But... how the hell did he find out?

And then, a thought came to her mind. She smirked and turned herself again, then took a few steps towards the famous detective.

- Ah, L, before I go...

- Yes?

- Poirot... he was _Belgian_... not French.

She smirked, and then finally walked out of the Chinese restaurant, smug like a little brat that has just successfully played a trick on her older sister.


	3. Chapter 3

_Warning: This chapter, as well as the next one, deals with a girl who has been raped and tortured and now is risking her life. There aren't scenes of violence, but anyway, I warn you that if you're very young or particularly sensitive about this subject, you might not read. _

**CHAPTER 3: A tough decision**

**June 29, 2008**

The following morning, she was looking for her stethoscope in her locker, when a little card slipped out of her gown.

'What the hell is that?'

She took it and read it.

.

_Ask Dr. Loan for Katy, I think he worked on a similar case a few years ago._

_Ah and, yesterday... I didn't mean to show off. I've learned that she asked for her last name to be changed while helping a friend solving a crossword, two days ago. I know pretty much nothing else about her. I... was really young when I read her novels. _

_._

'L...' She couldn't hold back a smile.

She talked to Dr. Loan about Katy. He was a quiet chubby man in his fifties. He was the head paediatrician neurologist.

He actually worked on a similar case before.

.

The girl's name was Maddison. She was nine. She was a perfectly healthy children. Unfortunately, one day Maddison fell from a high bar during an artistic gym class. She hit her head against the floor, causing herself a concussion. She came to the casualty and they sent her back home after a hasty examination.

The same evening, while having dinner, she fainted, and her parents took her back to the hospital.

There, she started having some sort of epileptic fits. There had been nothing else to do but keep her in a drug-induced coma to keep her alive.

A month after, her parents, unable to accept that her daughter was _voluntarily_ kept in coma, insistend on waking her up.

They did it, and Maddison seemed fine for... about ten minutes, if he remembers well. The she had a fit and some breathing complications occured. Her brain lacked oxygen for too much time.

At the end, they declared her cerebrally dead.

However, she was still alive- if you consider being virtually a vegetable being alive. She was unconscious, attached to some life support machine, in a private clinic somewhere in Wales right then.

No, Dr. Loan advised her not to try waking Katy up. Not for the next two months, at least.

But they had only about 25 hours left to find Stephanie, _alive_...

.

She talked to _anyone_ in that hospital that knows something about neurology. She searched her books for previous cases like Katy's. She called her teacher Dr. Jeers and asked him about his opinion on that case.

Half past twelve came very early. She was sitted in Katy's room, looking at her. The 17-year-old was filled with morphine to suppress the pain. If you looked at her face, she seemed even fine. But just shifting the sheets and assisting tha nurse changing her dressings, you would have seen. The Butcher raped her with a knife in both her orifices. Then he cut her abdomen and removed her right ovary and part of her bowel. At the end, he stitched her up. Anyway, she was nearly dying from bleeding when they found her.

Now, her most life-threatening damage was cerebral. Her brain remained in lack of oxygen for too much time before finally reaching the hospital.

Fanny had a look at her clock: it was a quarter to one. She knew L was probably waiting for her.

What was she supposed to do? She was just nineteen and every physician in the hospital had his own ideas. Dc. Foster changes his own every ten minutes.

What should she do?

...

As excpected, he was waiting for her in front of the canteen.

- Hi...

- Hi.

Silence.

- So...?

- So, I thought about it and... I realized that I'm... I'm just a student, and you can't base your decision on my opinion.

- Ok... then I'll have to ask Dr. Foster for his official position, and we'll refer it to Katy's grand parents ... The final decision is theirs.

- Yeah. That's... that's the right thing to do.

- Yes, probably you're right. Anyway, if we do it, it's going to be today. You can assist if you want.

- Yes... of course I will, she's my patient too.

- She's not your patient, you're not even a doctor yet.

- Yes, you're right. Anyway, I treated her and checked her and... I'll come.

- Ok, as you like it.

.

They had lunch togheter.

- The press already calls him "Butch the ripper", you know? They're comparing him to Jack the ripper.

The detective told her.

- Yes... I've heard of it. They thought that Jack the ripper was a butcher at first, didn't they?

- Yeah. They did.

- God, the press will be delighted by this story.

- 'Guess they will.

They finished their meal.

- You know, life is quite ironic.

He stated, while she was gathering paper napkins and plastic plates to throw them into the rubbish.

She frowned.

- Why do you say that?

- I was just thinking. You know, Sthepanie had a sort of congenital heart disease...

- Really? Oh God. Then... if she has already some health problems... it's...

She froze.

- ...It's more likely that she will already be dead... by now...isn't it?

- Nope. She underwent an heart transplant when she was 9. Now she's pefectly fine. Or... I mean, she was. Until yesterday, she was.

- What do you mean with that?

- I don't... I don't _mean_. I'm just thinking. Trying to do my job.

- I'm trying to do my job too. I am really sorry and concerned about Sthepanie. But... besides my personal feelings, there's no medical certainty about Katy's condition. You asked me a professional opinion, and I gave you that.

- I was just thinking that life is ironic, Fanny. I respect your professional opinion... altough you're only nineteen.

He smirked for a second.

.

When they arrived at Katy's room, Dr. Foster was already there, watching closely at the girl's chart. Actually he was just thinking about his chances to be interviewed by the BBC about the Butcher case.

L was still holding a picture of Stephanie.

'_life has a funny way of sneaking up on you, when you think everything's ok, and everything's going right...' _

- What?

- Uhm? Oh... nothing, L, I was... nothing. Just thinkin at the lyrics of a song, nevermind.

Then L turned to Dr. Foster and asked him:

- So... what is your suggestion, professor?

There were a pair of police officers outside the room, as well as Katy's grand parents.

.

Fanny had chosen to fight againt Nature, by choosing her job. She fought every day against the evil in the DNA, or in the neurons, or in the Schwann cells. But she didn't know how to cope with the evil in the human brain... not a medical kind of evil, I mean.

This... Butcher... was evil. And now they were forced to choose, _she_ was forced to choose, between two young girls' lives. This was unfair.

- ...L?

- Yeah?

- Can I... talk to you for a second?

- Now?

- Yes, uhm... now.

He snorted but managed to have her boss out for a minute, pretending that he should talk to Katy's parents before reaching his final decision.

.

- So... what?

He asked her when they were alone.

- So... I thought again about it.

- 'bout Katy?

- Yeah.

- And?

- My... my professional opinion is that... if you still want to know it, I mean...

- I do, go on.

- I think that... there's no chance for her. I mean, even if she woke up, which is unlikely, she would most probably be as aware of herself as a pumpkin, and... you know. Anyone has different opinions about her, but they're based on the fact that they either consider her state something that is worth living for, or they don't. No one... no one really thinks that she's going to wake up and... you know, be like me and you now. There's... there's very little chance that she will. Almost negligible.

- Ok...

- That's my professional opinion. And... personally, I don't consider her state something that is worth living for... but I don't know if it can be considered right to risk her life because of my personal feelings. Anyway... there are two young girls'lives to consider, at the moment, and...

He was listening carefully to her.

- Trust me, I would... I would give my own arm or ten years of my life to save them both, but... if we have to choose between risking Katy's life in order to try saving Stephanie's one, or risking Stephanie's life to try saving Katy's one, I think...

Her boss was not going to wait outside for much longer, she knew, but... it was so hard to say.

- I just think that... we have got best chances to save Stephanie...

- So, you suggest waking Katy up?

- I tell you that, medically speaking, it's very unlikely that she will recover. About... about 0.001 percent. As a human being... I suggest you to try waking her up. For Stephanie. Because she still has a chance.

- Ok, thank you for your opinion, Fanny... I will cherish it.

.

- So, mister L!

A loud voice interrupted their talk.

- If you want to know my professional opinion... I think that you should try waking up our poor Katy... after all, it's the best for her too. Keeping her unconscious it's like having her dead, isn't it?

- Yes... I guess it is. Thank you, Dr. Foster. Do you think her grand parents will agree?

- Yes... I think so. They don't want us to keep her in coma. They want to try, to risk, if it's necessary.

.

'Like Madison's parents.'

Fanny thought.

'Poor things, everyone is fooling at them. Everyone just wants to wake Katy up to solve the case, and they're convincing her grand parents that this is the best for her too... anyway, maybe it is really the best for her, but not in the way her grand parents think. It's the best because she'll probably die and stop suffering...'

.

L was speaking to the doctors and police officers, and they were probably having it all planned down before acting.

Fanny approached the detective.

- Dr. Loan's case was similar to Katy's one,

She told him.

- They had the same symptoms, even if their damage was of a different nature. That girl was waken up from induced coma and she was fine for ten minutes and then she had a fit... if you try this, and if she's conscious, no one can say how many minutes will you have. Maybe ten, maybe twenty, maybe two days. But maybe you'll have three minutes. You have to know exactly what to ask her _before_ waking her up, then you'll may have very little time...

- I know what to do Fanny, don't worry.

- Yes, I... I know you can do your job, I was just...

- It's fine, now go to Katy's family, stay by their side ok?

- Ok... I will.

- Good...

She left the room, trying her best to trust L and the police. If they succeeded in learning something that can lead them to Stephanie, Katy's sacrifice wouldn't have been useless. But if they didn't...


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4: Hoping for a miracle**

About half an hour later, it was all planned. Katy's grand mother was holding her rosary and her grand father prayed every God he knew.

Fanny was Catholic and she prayed too. Prayed for a miracle, because only a miracle could save Katy now.

Anyway, she had prayed for a miracle many times before and it never worked.

'There is always a first time' She kept telling herself.

.

Dr. Foster and Dr. Loan were at Katy's side, togheter with some other physicians, one was an anaesthetist she thought, some others she didn't know. There were a few nurses too, some of them agreed with that, some don't, for the most different reasons. But they were all there, trying to do their job the best they could.

- If you are all ready, we can go on.

Dr. Foster stated . All the staff members nodded.

They administered her some Diazepam to avoid the convulsions she might have, and then they injected her Naloxon, a drug Fanny knew well. Then they injected her Flumazenil. She knew just that it was an antagonist of benzodiazepines, such as Diazepam... she had no idea of the reason why they were used togheter now.

Anybody in the room was tense.

Then Katy's muscles slowly started stiffening, and she slightly opened her eyes. Her grand mother started crying and someone had to keep her from throwing herself onto her grand daughter.

Fanny checked her temperature and it was high, too high. They gave her fever reducers. Endocranial pressure was too high.

- Reduce the pCO2 to 30 mmHg,

Somebody told, Katy now was fighting to breath without the help of the machine.

L was staring at her, looking worried.

After a minute of anguish, Katy totally opened her eyes, and then she opened her mouth as to speak.

- W-where... am... I?

She asked, her voice barely audible.

- You're in the hospital, Katy, everything is fine, we are all here for you.

Dr. Loan told her.

- There's your grand mother over there, can you see her?

- Yeh... yes... gr-granny...

She whispered.

- Honey, my sweet honey! I'm here, grand daddy's here too, my sweetheart...

- Yeah...

- Katy... Katy, can you remeber anything of what happend to you?

A police officer asked her, some of the people in the room plainly disagreed with questioning the girl like that before she could even speak to her family.

- No... no... what happened?

No one answered her.

- Nothing honey, don't worry.

- What happened to me?

A single tear drop from her eye.

.

Then she started breathing heavily and every person in the room felt a grip in the stomach.

- I can't... see...

- Katy? Katy, look at me, can you see me?

Dr. Loan checked her eyes with a penlight.

Then Katy started screaming.

- Noo... NOOOO... no, leave me... let me go...

- Katy... Katy!

Dr Loan shook her.

- Help me... someone help me...

- Katy, you're safe now, you're safe...

The girl was allucinating.

Then she suddenly calmed herself down, and stayed still.

- Katy? Katy? Can you see me now?

- Yeah... yes. Where am I?

- You're at the hospital, honey.

- Where... where is _he_?

She asked, her whole body shaking.

.

L's eyes widened.

- You mean your aggressor?

He asked.

- He... he's... he's dead?

- No, Katy, he's alive. You managed to run away, but we hadn't catch him. Yet. Do you remember something of him? His look, his age? Have you heard his name? Heard him talking to someone?

- He's... tall...

- Tall... and he's... white? Black?

- White...

- His age?

- I don't know... maybe... 30...

- Has he some distinguishing features? A big nose, tattoos, a wound, a weird accent, anything?

- He... has a bendage on his hand...

- Ok, ok, great. And where did he keep you?

- I... haven't seen it...

- Was it close to where we find you?

- Yes... close... it was... it was a cellar...

- Great, great job Katy. Something else? How was the house like?

- 'don't know, it was... dark...

- But it was big, small? What did you see around it? Other houses? A church, a shopping mall?

- A church... yes, there was a church... we heard the bells ringing...

- Perfect... how close to where we found you?

- Very... very close...

- Ok... and-

- Stop asking me so many question, stop...

- Just another minute honey, he kidnapped another girl, we must find her...

- Yeah...

She looked concerned.

- Stephie...

Anyone in the room froze.

.

- You...did you see her?

- Yes... she's my friend...

- Was she in the cellar with you?

- Yes, her and the other one, the red-haired one...

_Another one?_

_._

Katy started coughing.

- Katy... Katy, listen to me. Tell me something else about this redhead girl. Her age, her clothes, anything...

- She... had a pink phone with her...

- Ok, and what else?

- She... took pics of him with the- cough, cough...

- Katy... Katy!

She turned paler and her eyes rolled back.

- KATY!

Her grand mother cried.

Then anything was so confused, so quick. They told Fanny to gave her Diazepam again, but it didn't worked.

.

They tried and tried but they had no response from the girl's unconscious body.

- No... Katy... my Katy...

Her grand mother was crying.

The girl was in ventricular fibrillation. They gave her an electric shock and her heart beats became normal again. Anyway, the real problem was her brain. No signs of life up there.

.

About fifteen minutes after, Dr. Foster asked:

- What time is it, Dr. Loan?

- It's three o'clock, Dr. Foster.

- We should... we should declare her cerebrally dead.

_- Dead_? No, my Katy's not... she's not dead!

Her grand mother cried.

Dr. Foster glanced at Dr. Loan as to ask his agreement.

- Yeah... there's no signs of cerebral activity.

- Ok. It's... 3.05 a.m., take note.

Dr. Foster said, addressing himself to a nurse.

- No... no... Katy...

- We're sorry-

The doctor said, putting his hand on the old woman's shoulder.

Then they all got out of the room and left Katy alone with her family, eventually.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5: So easy**

All the events from then on are blurred in Fanny's mind.

Someone talking about a pink phone in Katy's pocket no one cared to switch on, L yelling at the Scotland Yard officers.

The doctors yelling and blaming each other for what happened, Katy's grand parents crying.

She just sat there, then took some tranquillizers and a glass of water to Katy's grand ma.

L was kind of freaking out. No one took him the damn pink phone. He _needed_ it, Katy said...

Then a cop arrived and held a plastic bag with a pink cell phone in it. He handed the bag to L.

At the same moment L's phone rang.

- Hello? Yeah. Yes. Ok, perfect.

He put the phone back in his pocket, then, addressing to an officer:

- We've probably found the red haired, she's Jennyfer Clyson, 13 years old. Missing since Monday afternoon. The pink one it's her phone. Katy took it, maybe because Jennyfer took pictures of the rapist with it.

Then he lowered her voice.

- Why did Katy take it? Maybe... maybe 'cause Jennyfer was already...

- We tried to switch it on, but there's a password, and...

A police officier was explaining.

- Can't you hack in it? I don't think it's a CIA encrypt system, it can't be so difficult...

- We need a better computer from the lab, it's not an usual phone numeric password, it's an alphabetic one, eight letters...

- Ok, just take it to the lab then... NOW! Why didn't you do it before?

- We... didn't think it was important...

L trying to remain calm and lucid, and not to kill the stupid cop right then. This case was... damn, it was a mess.

Fanny glanced at the phone. It was the same model as hers, an LG cookie. Apart from the fact that this was pink, with a picture of Jacob from Twilight stuck on it.

Tough she had read the books a few years earlier, now she couldn't stand that stupid vampire movie.

.

- Shall we look for someone who has been in hospital for an injury on his hand?

- No... no, he has probably dressed up the wound by himself.

L was talking to a cop.

- I'm going now, we are checking through the area in which Katy was found.

He added, addressing to Fanny.

- If I can take a picture of him out of Jennyfer's phone, maybe we can identify him, see if he has got some property over there. We look for somewhere near a church.

- Ok... good luck then, and...

- What?

- Nothing. Just... good luck. Find her.

- I will...

- Update me if you find out something...

- I will.

He said, and he was already walking towards the exit.

She watched him going away, hoping that he deserved his reputation of being an excellent detective.

She hoped that for Stephanie and for Jennyfer.

.

Ten minutes later, she was having a break, drinkin her coffee, biting her nails. They had granted her one extra break, because of the shocking events of that afternoon.

Not that seeing a young girl dying was something unusual in an Intensive Care unit, nor even taking part in a police investigation, sometimes it happened.

But that case was definitely out of the ordinary.

The other doctors were still working as always, but she was really young and so they thought she couldn't handle it.

And they were not totally wrong about it.

.

A stream of images came to her mind. Katy, Katy's wounds, L's messy hair. The Oreos they ate after lunch. Katy screaming. Stephanie's picture. Jennyfer's pink phone. That stickers of the shirtless werewolf on it.

_Wait_.

She had like a flash running through her mind.

It made no sense. But _maybe_...

It couldn't be so silly, so easy.

It couldn't!

But what if...

She tried hard to remember the number of the letters. Was it... eight? Eight, she thought she remembered the cop said eight.

She focused on a few words and then, _that_... She counted the letters.

'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight... _eight_!'

Holy shit. Holy shit, they were eight!

But it was just an eight-letters word among thousands of possibilities...

'Well,' She told herself 'Until you try, you'll never know...'

She feverishly looked for her own phone, dialing the number L had given her.

.

After a few seconds, an unknow male voice answered.

- Hello?

- Hello? Hello, this is... this is Dc. Loan speaking.

Well, she thought it would have made her sound more reliable...

- How can I help you Dr, Loan?

- I... I worked on the Katy Sanchez case, I would need to talk to the detective that follows the case...

- Now he's busy... may I tell him something, or you prefer him to call you back, as soon as he can?

- No, no, I... need to talk to him NOW...

- But, at the moment he can't an-

- It's urgent! It's a dire situation...

- Ok, hang on, I'll see what I can do.

_Tu, tu, tu..._

She felt more and more stupid every second that passed.

- Hello Dc. Loan, this is L speaking. How can I help you?

She heard his familiar voice after a few moments.

- L...? T-that's me... Fanny!

- Fanny? You silly girl, why didn't you tell that it was you?

- 'don't know... anyway, I need to talk to you!

- Tell me...

- Have you... have you already hacked into Jennyfer's phone?

- Hell, no, we haven't even reached the lab!

- Ok then, I...

- What?

- A-I, uhm.

- Fanny? I've got no time for kidding!

- I mean, I... maybe I can make you save time.

- How?

- Try to enter this password.

- What...?

- 'Renesmee'.

- What is this?

- It's... it's just a character from a book, just... enter it, try.

- We've got only three tries, you're sure...

- I'm... not sure but... try. Trust me, try.

She felt her heart beating faster and faster.

- Ok, I will. Fanny, uhm... can you please spell that?

- Sure, it's R E N E S M E E... done?

- Done.

…..

- Holy shit.

- It works?

- Holy shit Fanny, how did you find it?

- She's just... oh, never mind.

….

- Are you still there?

- Yeah, I'm looking for the photos.

- Have you found them?

- Yes! Yes, here we are...

- ...L?

- Yeah, yes Funny, we got them, we got them. God...

- What?

- I must go now... Fanny?

- Yes?

- How the hell did you find out?

- I'll explain you later. Go now, you still have to find the motherfucker...

- Yeah... bye ... thanks.

_Tu. Tu. Tu..._


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6: Everybody needs somebody**

_'Renesmee'... s_illy girl.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - –

When they found Stephanie, she was crying in a corner of the cellar.

She had no severe injuries, but psychological ones.

For Jennyfer it was too late, though.

L had expected that.

But Stephanie, at least, was safe.

.

The most incredible thing was that, when they broke into the building, her captor was already dead.

They found him in the kitchen, a knife ready for Stephanie still in his hand.

He had been dead for about an hour. An heart attack.

.

Well, the police could say that it wasn't really thanks to them that the teenage was safe.

This time, it was thanks to Mother Nature. She killed the asshole, before he had the chance to kill Stephanie.

For once, thank you Nature, thanks for killing the very right person at the very right moment.

.

**July 1st, 2008**

They met in the same Chinese restaurant in which they had met that Wednesday.

Fanny pretended not to notice the weird way the detective was sitting, or the fact that he ordered only fried ice-cream, and soy cake, and strawberry cake, and caramel strawberries.

She swallowed her rice watching her new friend actually... sucking... _noisily_ sucking his strawberries.

He was quite an interesting guy.

- Well, now you can tell me. How did you discover it?

He asked her, and she smiled.

- It's such a silly thing. Renesmee is a character from a book. Have you heard of Twilight?

- Of course, is that vampire story for teen aged girls, isnt'it?

- Yeah, that's it.

- And did you... read it?

She blushes.

- Well, it was...many years ago! I even fell in love with the main character at the time.

- Oh... I see.

- Anyway, it's a saga, made up of four books...in the last one- I haven't even read it all, it was so cliché... anyway, there's a character named 'Renesmee'

- What a weird name...

- Yep, it's just... a mixture of the protagonist's mother's names, I think... well, this is the girl with whom Jacob has his imprinting, and so...

- Who has_ what?_

- Nevermind... she's kind of a girl a male character fell in love with. There was a sticker of that male character on Jennyfer's phone, so I thought...

- Oh... I see. It's... it's just... so easy...

- Yes, it's easy.

- I should have thought about it.

- You couldn't know these books, they're for girls...

- Well, I saw that there was a sticker on the phone. I should have investigated about it.

- Don't blame yourself, you've done most of the job... I've just told you the password. _You_ found him.

- Yeah, you've been great, But... that's my job. I'm supposed to be able at doing it.

- Well you _are_...

- I cannot forgive myself. I've never...

He flinched.

- I've never made such a gross mistake while working on a case.

- But... you solved it in two days!

- Yes, thanks to you, Katy, Jennyfer, and the Fate that killed the murderer before he assaulted Stephanie. I haven't done my job in the way I'm supposed to do it. And... this case was particularly important to me.

She spent most of the dinner trying to tell him that he was a good detective, but there were no ways. He wasn't... sad, just... she thought he was understimating himself. I mean, he found out anything about the Butcher from two blurred pictures on a phone. She just gave him the pictures!

.

Then they started talking about Katy.

- And she was an orphan...

L told her after a bit.

- Oh... yes, I mean, I guessed that. What happened to her parents?

He flinched.

- A... a car accident. When she was nine years old.

- Oh, poor thing.

And then Fanny's eyes darkened for a second.

- Are you fine?

He asked her.

- Yes... yes, of course. What were you telling me?

- What's the matter?

- Which.. which matter? There isn't any 'matter'...

- What's wrong with you, I mean.

- Nothing's _wrong_ with me...

- It's...

He stared at her.

- It's that about your parents?

She shuddered and he noticed it.

- I'm sorry... I didn't mean to remind you of something sad.

She didn't answer and they just ate silently for a few minutes.

.

- My mother died when I was nine.

She eventually told him.

- Oh. I'm sorry...

- It's ok... it has been so many years since then. But... you know, it's never pleasant.

- I know. And what about your family now?

She stared at him.

- If... if I may ask...

He added.

- Well they... I don't see many of them, by now. Well, I... _never_ see them by now.

She kept on eating her spring roll.

L wanted to know more, but wasn't intentioned in giving her the third degree.

...

- I've lost my mother when I was seven.

He told her after a bit.

- It has been... really many years since then. But still... it's not pleasant.

He didn't usually talk about that. He usually felt uncomfortable when talking about his childhood, but Fanny looked like a rather comfortable talker.

- Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't know that.

- Of course you didn't, I have never told you.

….

- My... my father was... quite an asshole.

She added, and he just listened to her, without speaking.

- He... he used to hit me and... hurt me in many ways. He's just... born an asshole, and he will die an asshole, I guess.

She smiled, disguising her feelings.

- He... he made _things_ to me, you know. But he had never... never actually _raped _me, you know... so they... they couldn't find any... evidence.

He nodded.

- Why are you telling me that?

- I dont know. Maybe... maybe I'm just lying to make you talk about your own childhood.

She smiled slightly. Though she was telling sorrowful events, her voice was so soft, quiet.

- Maybe... I just need to talk.

He smiled back. He could understand if someone was lying to him... and she wasn't.

.

- I've seen the picture of a baby in your wallet. Who is he?

She flinched.

_- She_... she's a girl. She's Lucy.

Pause.

- ...my sister.

- Oh. And... do you see her, now?

- No. I haven't seen her for... about one year, by now- God, it feels like twenty.

- How old is she?

- She's just turned two.

- Oh. She's young.

- Yeah, she is.

Silence, they both looked at their food.

.

- I took care of her for one year after she was born.

Fanny went on.

- My father and his woman were... unsuitable to raise a baby.

- And then? What happened?

- They... took her away from me. Legally speaking... she was theirs. I haven't seen her since then.

She guessed she looked so pitiful, now.

- Hey, don't take pity on me!

SHe said, pretending to smile.

- About one year ago I won a scholarship to attend the university, and I've been my teachers' pet since then... You know, I like my job. Really. It's the reason why I get up every morning. I... I've found my calling. And... I wouldn't be able to do this if I had to look after Lucy. I... I don't mean that I won't give up everything for her if it was necessary, but... I'm happy now, I've been... really lucky, even through my troubles.

- I see... well, that's an interesting story.

- And... what about _your_ story?

- I'll tell you that... one day or another.

'That's unfair! I told him things I had never told anyone else before!' She thought.

- Ok... just... whenever you'll feel like. Just... call me.

She said.

That was a better 'sweet caring older sister/best friend' 's phrase.

And you know... everybody needs somebody who cared for them.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7: Talking about the Fate**

**July 3rd, 2008**

A few days later, it was 7.30 o'clock p.m in Fanny's apartment. She had just stuffed herself with some Thai take-away left-overs.

She took her significant other out of the freezer, then she grabbed a tea spoon and finally jumped on her couch.

She was getting ready for her special night: gulping down Haagen-Dazs midnight cookies & cream flavoured ice cream while watching Grey's anatomy online. She pretended to be Izzie. I mean, until the 4th season.

Anyway, she checked her mail before watching her favourite TV series. She had got no mail, but she had two messages on facebook.

She clicked on the first. It was from her best friend, Liz.

.

_Hey mi chica! I'm leaving tomorrow, so tonight we're gonna go out togheter, ok? Let me repeat myself: we're gonna go OUT, away from ur couch where u spend most of ur time... got it? Well, I don't accept a 'No' as an answer, so come to terms with that, ok? _

_See u tonight! _

_^.^ I'm gonna introduce you to Nic's cousin... eheh... he's cool- you definitely HAVE to know him!_

_Bye sweeetie!_

_._

'No, not Nic's cousin once again.' She thought. 'Please, my Lord. Gimme frogs, lice, flies, gimme boils or hail or locusts, my Lord, but please, not Nic's cousin.'

She checked the second message, it was from Liz too.

.

_Well, I guess you haven't read my message-nothing new! Anyway... don't think to escape our meeting, I'm coming to pick you up at... 7.45 or 8 maybe... ok? Put on something decent- I mean no jeans, no t-shirts, no sneakers- got it? NOOO sneakers! _

_Bye, see you later! XD_

_._

'Oh, shit.'

Now she had to find an excuse not to go out with Liz. She was tired, her hair was a mess, and she couldn't stand Nic's cousin. Ok, _maybe_ she was a bit too picky about guys, but Nic's cousin... no. He was out of the question.

She was looking upon different options, such as: 'I'm sorry! I can't come, I caught the bubbonic plague' or: 'I'm _very_ sorry, I wish I could come, but unfotunately...I'm... I'm dead!' or : 'No... oh gosh, I'd really like to come but... aliens kidnapped me, you know... see you next month, ok?'

She was pondering which one could be the most suitable, assuming that she had already used the 'I'm sorry, I've been kidnapped by aliens' one the last time Liz called.

While she was unleashing her imagination, the phone rang.

.

- Hello?

- Hello...

A familiar voice...

- Hi Fanny, this is L speaking...

She couldn't hold back a smile, she did not understand why.

- Hi... hi L... what... what's up?

- I need to talk to you.

- Uhm, why?

- I'll tell you that if you come.

- Oook, but... when? Where?

- Now. At the usual restaurant would be fine for you?

- Uhm... now?

- Yeah, now.

- Can't we... meet tomorrow morning?

- I'm very busy at the moment... I know, you're busy too. But... you're sure you can't come now? It would be perfect for me, I'm having dinner right now.

…..

- Uhm, o-ok then, I'm... I'm coming.

- Great, thank you very much for your time. I'll wait you here.

- Ok... it... it takes fifteen minutes for me to get there, and I need to put my clothes on before, so... I'll be there in about... 20-25 minutes... ok?

- Perfect. I'm sorry if I'm bothering you.

- Don't worry, you're not... see you later, then... _detective_.

- See you later... _doctor_.

.

She jumped up from the couch and rushed towards her bedroom, grabbing some clothes from her wardrobe. She put them on and checked her hair. It was... well, it was... as if she put her head in a washing machine.

'Oh, who cares. He has probably never used a brush, he won't care' She thought.

Then she washed her face and put on some mascara and a touch of blusher on her cheeks. She didn't know why she did it. It's not unusual for her too put on some make up, I mean, but she was in a hurry now. She shouldn't be wasting time for that.

She was looking for her iPod when the door-bell rang. She loooked through the peephole.

'Shit, Liz' She thought.

She opened the door letting her friend come in.

.

- Hi sweetie!

- Hi, Liz... uhm...

- Good, you're ready to go out! Well, I told you not to wear sneakers, and you're wearing flats, great!

She told her looking disappointed.

- Well, t-they aren't sneak-

- Oh honey, I meant heels, wear some high heels once in a while!

- I... I can't walk in high heels, you know it...

- Ok, nevermind... flats will do for tonight! I'm so happy you're coming!

- Well, actually...

Fanny wasn't looking at her while speaking, pretending to be looking for her iPod.

- Actually, I'm... I'm _really_ sorry Liz, I mean it, I know we never spend much time togheter, but...

_- But_... Yeah, here you go.

Liz now looked really disappointed.

- There's always a 'but' with you, Fanny. 'I'd reeeally like to come with you, BUT...' or 'Oh, tonight? Yes, yeah it's great idea, BUT...'

- I'm... sorry, Liz, really, but... you're not leaving for one year, you'll be back on Sunday! We can just go out next week...

- Yeah, yes. Next week. Like usual, you know? It's always 'next week' with you.

- I'm sorry Liz. I'm... I'm busy tonight.

- Busy?

Fanny considered her options. If she told Liz that it was a work matter or something that involved even remotely her job, her friend would have killed her.

Same if she told her that the Butcher case could be involved.

- Yeah, I'm... I'm... it's... it's a guy, actual-

- Oh Fanny! Great! But who's this? Where did you meet him? _When_ did you meet him?

- It's-uhm- we're not getting married Liz, chill out.

- Mhm, yeah, sorry. But tell me, how do you meet him?

- Uhm...

'Don't say at work' She told herself.

- Oh, in a restaurant... after work... you know, all the tables were taken, and he was sitting alone, so...

- Great girl! And... what's his name?

…...

- Uhm... it's... it's L... Luke.

- Luke? Nice. And how old is him?

- He's 24.

- Cool! Does he study or work?

- Work... he's... he's in the police.

- Well that's cool! And... have you two already made out?

- Oh Liz, I've been knowing him for... a few days...

- Well you don't need to get married for that!

- Yeah, but, I mean... this is the firts time we're actually... _dating_, you know.

They weren't 'dating' but, who cared. That was the right thing to tell Liz.

- And you're going to date him dressed up like that?

- Uhm, what's wrong with my-

….

- Liiiz, just let me go, I'm late!

.

Ten minutes after, she was driving towards the restaurant, and it was really, really late.

She couldn't drive with those fucking shoes, damn Liz and her silly ideas.

Plus, her iPod wasn't working. 'Great' She thought.

Then she switched on the radio, and suddenly Leona Lewis's voice filled the car.

She pressed the accelerator heavier.

She was excited, craving to know what did L need to talk to her about.

'My heart's crippled by the veins that I keep on closing... you cut me open and I..'

She hummed.

.

L was waiting for her at the restaurant, he had already finished his dinner, of course. She was almost twenty minutes late.

- Hey, hi... I'm sorry for being late! I was... I was planning to go out with a friend, and I had to explain her...

- Oh, I'm... sorry, I didn't mean to ruin your plans for the night.

- No! No, I mean... I didn't want to go, you know, it's... they're trying to make me date a... well, a friend of a friend, but he's... oh, nevermind. Just... tell me whatever you want to tell me... I'm here for that.

- Of course. But please, have a sit.

- Oh, yeah... sure.

- You look very... uhm... dressy.

- Oh... ehm, yeah...

She blushed.

- I... it has been my friend's idea, you know... She always wants me to wear heels and those stuff... and I... _maybe_ I told her I was going on a date... just so she left...but... anyway, who cares about my shoes! Let's talk about something more important.

- I wonder how can you manage to walk in them.

- I wonder that too, trust me.

- Anyway... talking about business.

- Talking about business...

- There's... there's something I... thought it would have been right to tell you.

- What?

She was really curious right now.

.

- I start working on a new case.

- Ah. Uhm... well, good...

- It's... it's a one you might find... interesting.

- What does it mean?

- I'm... leaving tomorrow.

- Oh. Good luck then... Where are you going?

- In Japan.

- Japan? Really?

- Yeah. I'm not planning to stay much time, just a few weeks.

- Uhm, that's... interesting. What's the matter? A murderer again?

- Yes, it's a murderer again.

- God, how many monsters are there in this world.

He looked at her without speaking for a few moments.

- I usually work alone. I have only a co-worker, a very reliable man. Anyway, I don't work... in team, you know.

- Aha...

- Anyway, I... this case is going to be a very important one. Maybe this time I should rely on the help of other skilled persons around me. I wanted to ask you if... if you'd like to come with me.

She just stared at him for a few seconds, blinking.

- _I-I?_ But... I... how could I...

- You're a reliable person, quite wise for your age. You could be my assistant. It's not needed any specific train or knwoledge, I just need someone trustworthy and not completely dull. You could be a suitable person for the job.

- Oh, thank you for considering me 'not completely dull', but, anyway... I... I've got a job! I've got... my studies... I can't... leave everything and come to _japan_ for a few weeks!

- You might stay maximun two weeks if you want, I thought that it wasn't impossible for you to ask two weeks off.

- But... I'm on a scholarship _by merit_, I can't ask... not even A DAY off... not definitely two weeks!

- I understand. Mine it's a weird demand, after all. Anyway, altough you can't come... there's another reason why I called you, out of all.

She stared at him.

- Which reason?

- You told me you were thankful to the Fate because it had killed the Butcher before he could kill Stephanie.

- Of course I was...

- Well...

She didn't move her eyes from his.

.

- Oh, wait... one thing, before I forget it. I brought you this.

- What is it?

She asked, taking the envelope he was handing her.

- It's a letter from Stephanie. She thanks anybody who helped her.

- Oh... poor thing. She's such a sweetheart.

- Ok... now, I was telling you... the Fate...

- The Fate...what?

.

He stared deeply at her.

- The Fate hadn't... hadn't killed the Butcher.

.

Her heart stopped beating for a second. What the hell did that mean?

L, in the meanwhile, was handing her a file about the new case he was going to work on.

- 'The Kira case'

She read.

- And... what is that? What does it has to do with the Butcher?

- I think...

He paused, snd she held her breath.

.

- I think that _he_ killed the Butcher...


	8. Chapter 8

_Hi everyone! In this chapter there's a song i suggest to listen- i was listening to it while writing- you'll see the link while reading the story. Hang on... do you say 'link', don't you? For something like '/watch?v=' ... right? Mumble mumble... anyway, you got it... if you want you can listen to the song while reading... :)_

_-_- no... there had been a few problems. Don't know why, but everytime I save the document, the link get erased. Anyway, the song is taking chances by Celine Dion, if you hadn't guessed yet. _

**CHAPTER 8: Taking chances**

It was an unspecified time in the night, maybe midnight, maybe one a.m.

She was walking around in her city, thinking about L's proposal. Her city, the city she was born and raised in. It was almost part of herself, by then...

All those familiar places to go, when she was down and only her favourite starbucks's frappuccino could cheer her up.

She was just looking at the city's sparkling lights in the night, hearing the noise of the cars down the streets.

London's sky was covered by clouds 360 days a year. But when it came the night, altough she couldn't actually see many stars, because of the light pollution and the clouds, she could still see the moon.

The sky was dark and it was similar to any other place's sky in the Earth.

Wasn't the moon the same moon everywhere?

But still that was London, and the moonlight in London looked far more beautiful in her eyes that anywhere else.

It was relaxing, it made she feel a strange melancholy and a deep sweetness. It was magic.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - – -

She was walking up and down the streets she knew well, and thinking.

What he told her... it was crazy... absurd.

There was a man in Japan... a murderer, who actually killed the Butcher. But how?

And first of all... why? Is that he really wanted to get the world rid of those kind of monsters?

And... was that really wrong?

She couldn't believe that this killer had actually... saved Stephanie's life.

Everything was so absurd, as if her life had become a movie.

And then, there was _him_...

L, asking her to come with him.

He was... he was so...

But no, she couldn't go. No way, it was out of the question.

Her iPod finally switched on. It was a wreck of an iPod, but she loved it.

...

_[.com/watch?v=DpZu2AdqtY8&feature=related]_

She just couldn't go with him, an almost stranger.

She just couldn't leave her job, her studies, her city.

Not for a man she knew nearly nothing about. I mean, he never even wanted to tell her his real name. How could she trust such a person?

...But still, she hasn't really fallen in love with anyone for so much time, she nearly forgot how it felt like...

And besides, there was her job. Her mission in this life. She couldn't leave it, not even for a single day.

…..

She remembered when she was only a little child. You know, when you're a child you always think of big things for your future. You see thrilling adventures, overwhelming feelings, never ending love stories.

There's always a charming prince in a girl's dream that one day comes and picks her up, there is always a happy ending after all. We've been raised dreaming to live in a Disney movie...

And then you get older and you see, life isn't bad, but it isn't a fairytail, where all the most unlikely events happen, or where falling in love is so bloody easy.

...But still, she hasn't really fallen in love with anyone for so much time, she nearly forgot how it felt like...

And she... kinda liked him...

And what if you don't catch a chance when you have it, and live your whole life to regret it?

What if you get old and you've never lived your Disney movie dream and then, it's too late?

And...

And... if she could just... take this chance... take this chance to do something foolish in her life... something only a nineteen years old girl could do...

Wouldn't she deserve it after all that she had been through?

Wouldn't she deserve a chance to be just a fool girl and to follow the boy she liked, just one chance in her life to be the person she could have been, forgetting her past and her troubles?

Just one chance to be free, one chance to be young, even one chance to do the wrong thing, but to do the wrong thing following her heart.

Wouldn't she deserve it after all?

And maybe this, _this_ was her chance. And maybe _he _was her chance.

And maybe she wouldn't have had another opportunity.

And maybe... maybe she liked him...

_And what do you say to taking chances, what to you say to jumping, off the edge... _

_Never knowing, if there's solid ground below, or a hand to hold, or hell to pay... what do you say?_

_What do you say..._

_[….] _

_Don't know much about your life... and I don't know much about you world..._

_._

**July 4, 2008**

The following morning, she woke up at ten o'clock, unbelievably late for her. After a night of sleep, her thoughts were much clearer than the night before.

The previous night she was in a weird mood, maybe because of Liz, or because of Nic's cousin, or because of the moonlight that always made her thoughts much more romantic, sad and illogical.

Now, in the britght light of the day, getting ready for a conference on the ependimocytes and the nervous Stem cells, everything that happened the night before seemed unreal.

Especially, unreal that she really considered following a guy she barely knew on the opposite side of the world, chasing a mysterious murderer able to kill a man a thousand miles away from him.

That was absurd.

Yeah, L looked pretty much a good guy, and the Butcher case, including his mysterious death, was stuck to her mind.

But, I mean, she had other ten young girls in life-threatening conditions at the hospital, and so many she had seen dying prematurely, besides Katy and Jennyfer. She should be used to this kind of stuff!

But maybe there was... something different this time. Something different that kept her mind on that case _every_ single second of her day.

.

She went to the conference, but she couldn't focus her attention on it.

That's was untypical of her... nothing had been more important that her studies and her job, in the last year. But now she felt like disconnected by the world around her, she lost herself in her thoughts, day-dreaming like she had never done before.

.

In the afternoon, she went at the supermarket, trying to find her shopping list in her bag- there was always everything, _everything_ in that stupid bag apart from what she needed.

She used to like supermarkets, they were so filled with food, sweets, ice creams, everything anyone could possibly need. They were full of people of all races and ages.

Anyway, she bought some junk food as usual and then came back home. She put the food in the fridge and then she collapsed on her bed, wanting only to sleep for 48 hours and to clear up her thoughts once and for all.

.

She slept for half an hour, and when she opened her eyes, it was 5.00 p.m.

She switched on her laptop, her best friend of all.

A baby girl was smiling at her from the screen.

When she saw her, she felt the burden of her whole life falling on her shoulders.

Once, she had been a scared child waiting for her father to come back home at night.

Then she had been a caring older sister with Lucy, for her little sister she was ready to sacrifice all her ambitions and her youth.

Then she had been a model student, in love with her studies and her job, thanking God for the scholarship which allowed her to keep on studying.

She didn't really regret any of these persons she had been.

She didn't, but still she felt like she was missing something.

Like she was at a turning point in her life, and she had to choose between what her mind told her to do and what her heart did.

She pictured herself on the edge of a chasm, and taking just one step she would have fallen down and never succeded in going back up again.

She was about to plunge into a life that wasn't really the one she wanted... not _excactly_ the one she wanted.

She felt like Rose hanged on to the Titanic's stern. She had planned to throw herself in the ocean, but now there was Jack, and he was unplanned. Couldn't she take his hand and seize her last chance to experience something that was missing in her life, before jumping into the ocean forever...?

.

And then, she _knew_.

Suddenly, as lightning in her mind, she knew.

It's weird, how people spend hours and hours thinking about a thing, evaluating the pros and the cons, rationally analyzing it again and again and never reaching a conclusion, and then, in a second, it's af if they open their eyes to see the light... and they know.

They know what they really want to do.

She rushed in her bedroom and threw a few clothes in a bag. She gathered a few things she couldn't absolutely do without.

Then she wrote a mail to her favourite teacher pretending that she was sick, asking him the permission to remain at home for a few days.

She grabbed her two bags and locked the door of her apartment without having a last glance at it, sure that she would have been back in a week.

.

She took the shuttle to the airport, checking worriedly the time on her phone. It was late...

Her stupid iPod didn't work. How could she cope with a ten hours flight without her iPod?( Admitting that she would have arrived in time to catch the plane...)

Anyway, she checked her passport, wallet, phone, phone battery charger... ok, ok, the essential was there.

'I'm gonna stay for a week. Just a week. A week off has never killed anybody... hasn'it?' She kept telling herself.

When she arrived at the airport it was late, and she was afraid the check-in would have been already closed.

She run as fast as she could, nearly losing one of her shoes. 'Damn flats' She thought.

She was panting and she couldn't find the check-in for his flight. He told 8.30, did he? She started panicking.

What if she misundertood the time?

.

And then she saw him. Standing in line with his usual white shirt, his messy hair and his eye-bags.

Her heart started pounding. God, she knew she had taken the right decision...

- Hey! Hey! L!

She screamed, and he turned himself to see her when he heard her voice.

She made her way through the crowd and reached him.

- I thought you weren't coming...

He told her, without showing any emotion.

- I... thought that way, too.

She smiled oddly.

- I'm... sorry,

She apologized herself.

- I... I arrived here without notice, I know, but I've just... I've just decided to come and... I tried to call you but you didn't anwser and so...

- It's fine. It's my fault, I asked you to come at a very short notice...

- Yes, actually... actually that's true...

- Anyway, I still have your ticket... if you changed your mind.

She stared at him for a second, feeling like she was living in a movie or in a dream.

- I did change my mind...

- - - - - – - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - –

Her hand-luggage was far heavier than the allowed weigh. Fortunately, both L and the man who was travelling with them (L's co-worker she thought) had very little luggage, so they passed one of her bags off as theirs.

The man was a quite reserved gentleman on his late fifties or early sixties, and he spoke very little to her. He introduced himself as Watari, and stated that he was glad to have made her acquaintance, hoping that they'll fruitfully work togheter.

While walking in the tunnel that led to their plane, Fanny took her phone out of her pocket to switch it off, and, before doing it, she sent a last message to Liz.

_'I'm going to be off for about a week. Don't ask. I'll tell you everything when I come back. You'll be proud of me ;) If anyone asks, tell them I'm ill. Have a nice holiday..._

_Love ya'_


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9: Saying goodbye**

- Goodbye...

She whispered while the plane was taking off.

L heard her.

Who are you saying goodbye to?

She blushed.

- To...uhm... actually... to London.

She hadn't travelled much in her life, she never had much money for that.

But she always told her city 'goodbye' when she left it.

She thought she would have been back in a week. She didn't know yet, how wrong she was.

.

Four hours later, it was all dark and quiet around them. Most people were sleeping. She had just watched a thriller in which some FBI training profilers were sent to a desert island to simulate a murder case, but then it turned out to be real and they were all killed one by one. Like in the novel by Agatha Christie. Yep, just something to cheer her up...

Now she was very tired, but the adrenaline in her veins kept her awake.

She put on a light scarf, she couldn't stand the air conditioning.

She messed about with her iPod for a few minutes, trying to fix it, but there was no way.

- It doesn't work?

Asked the older boy sitting next to her.

- No... it doesn't. I think it's gone.

- Can I see it?

- Yeah... of course.

She gave him her iPod and he handled the little object with care.

- Don't worry, you can't do anything wrost to it, it's already destroyed.

- Mmh... I'm sorry but I think I'll have to agree with you. It doesn't work at all.

She snorted and threw it back in her bag.

.

- You can borrow mine if you want to.

- Oh... thank you. Aren't you listening to it?

- No, actually no... it's a present, you know. But I rarely use it. Where did I put it? Mmmh... yes, here it is. Anyway... you might don't like the music in it.

He told her, handing her his iPod.

She had no particular tastes in music... because she had just very little time to improve her knwoledge about music.

L kept on explaining her:

- Most of the songs have been uploaded by some of the kids from the orphanage and...

He stopped, realizing that he had told her a piece of news he wasn't really intentioned to give away.

She was questioning him with her eyes.

- I've been raised in an orphanage since I was eight.

He explained.

- I still visit it often. I'm not... good with kids, you know, but they seem to like me anyway. They always buy me presents...

He smiled. He was cute when he smiled. Unfortunately, he rarely did.

In the meanwhile he pulled out from his bag an unidentified blue object- uhm, a Nintendo DS maybe.

- That's the last one I've received.

He chuckled. She has never- ever- heard him chuckling before.

- I've never even switched it on... but he made me promise that I'd always keep it close to me and so... I carry it around.

- That's... nice of you.

- Mhm, it's not heavy. Anyway, you're tired. Try to sleep now, or you'll fall asleep when you get off the plane, and I'll need you to be awake by then.

He was right. She was knackered.

She closed her eyes and leaned back to her seat.

.

An hour later, he gently took the iPod away from her and switched it off. She had fallen asleep while listening to it.

Now, she was sleeping with her head on his shoulder, and he was really annoyed by it.

He wasn't keen on physical contact.

Anyway, it would have been rude of him waking her up, and he was a gentleman, so he just let her sleep.

He tossed a jelly bean into his mouth, listening to the girl's steady breaths.

Her hair was tuckling his neck.

Everything around them was dark and quiet.

Only the soft lights some passengers needed to read and the regualr hum of the plane.

They were probably flying over China by then.

.

He took a deep breath.

He had a bad feeling he wasn't able to explain himself.

He was a rational person, he didn't usually based his decisions upon 'feelings'.

Anyway, he didn't usually lie to himself either.

And now, he couldn't hide it, he had a bad, bad feeling about this case.

.

_Author's space:_

_So that's the end/ beginning of a new story... anyway... let me know what you think about it... I hope you enjoyed! _


End file.
